MAC WISEMAN
Famed for his clear and mellow tenor voice, Mac Wiseman recorded with many great bluegrass bands, including those of Molly O'Day, Flatt & Scruggs, Bill Monroe, and the Osborne Brothers. His command of traditional material made him much in demand by bluegrass and folk fans alike.
Wiseman was born in Crimora, Virginia, and grew up influenced by traditional and religious music and such radio stars as Montana Slim Carter. He started out working as a radio announcer in Harrisonburg in 1944; at the same time, he worked as a singer with Buddy Starcher. Wiseman later formed his own group and continued performing with others, including Molly O'Day and Flatt & Scruggs, through the '40s. In 1949, he recorded a single, "Travelin' Down This Lonesome Road," with Bill Monroe. By the '50s, Wiseman was again leading his own band.
Possessing one of the best tenor voices in bluegrass, Wiseman differed from Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs in that he usually sang alone, with little or no harmonizing. His band also employed two fiddles to play contemporary songs such as Speedy Krise's "Goin' Like Wildfire," as well as adaptations of standards such as the Carter Family's "Wonder How the Old Folks Are at Home" and Mac & Bob's "'Tis Sweet to Be Remembered." Wiseman recorded many popular local singles with the Country Boys -- a band who featured such pioneering musicians as Eddie Adcock and Scott Stoneman -- and he had his first national Top Ten hit with his version of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett." The song's success steered him away from bluegrass and more towards pop and country. In 1957, he began recording for Dot; he had a few major successes for the label with such songs as "Jimmy Brown the Newsboy" before moving to Capitol in 1962, where he recorded both country and bluegrass tunes. Wiseman began working for Wheeling's WWVA Jamboree in 1965, and also began to play at bluegrass festivals. Over the next three decades, he became one of the most popular performers on the circuit.
Wiseman moved to Nashville in 1969 and signed with RCA Victor. His first -- and only -- hit for the label was the Top 40 novelty tune "If I Had Johnny's Cash and Charley's Pride." While at RCA, he also recorded three well-received bluegrass albums with Lester Flatt. From the mid-'70s on, Wiseman concentrated on bluegrass, becoming a fixture at festivals and releasing a series of records on independent records that ran into the '90s.
In 1992, Wiseman narrated the documentary High Lonesome, a chronicle of bluegrass music, and in 1993 he was inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. Wiseman stayed active into the 21st century, releasing eight albums on Music Hill between 2001 and 2005, including 2003's The Lost Album, drawn from sessions done in 1964 for Capitol. A duets album with John Prine, Standard Songs for Average People, appeared from Prine's Oh Boy Records in 2007, with a trio of independently released albums, Old Likker in a New Jug, Waiting for the Boys to Come Home, and Bluegrass Tradition arriving in 2008. Wiseman continued a low-key recording career in the 2010s, releasing Songs from My Mother's Hand in 2014 and the star-studded I Sang the Song in 2017. Mac Wiseman died on February 24, 2019, due to liver failure; he was 93 years of age.
© Sandra Brennan, David Vinopal & Steve Leggett /TiVo
Discography
20 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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The Essential Bluegrass Album
The Osborne Brothers, MAC WISEMAN
Country - Released by CMH Records on Jan 1, 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Standard Songs for Average People
Country - Released by Oh Boy Records on Apr 24, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mac Wiseman: Studio 102 Essentials
Country - Released by Suite 102 on May 27, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Mac Wiseman Story
Country - Released by CMH Records on Feb 6, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ultimate Collection (1951-1960)
Country - Released by Master Classics Records on Mar 1, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sings Johnny's Cash and Charley's Pride
Country - Released by RCA - Legacy on May 1, 1970
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mac Wiseman: Hall of Fame Legend
Country - Released by Suite 102 on Sep 23, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mac Wiseman Sings Gordon Lightfoot
Country - Released by CMH Records on Nov 26, 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bluegrass Hits And Heartsongs
Folk - Released by Rebel Records Llc on Jun 2, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sings Old Time Country Favorites
Country - Released by Rural Rhythm on Jan 1, 1967
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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American Portraits: Mac Wiseman
Country - Released by Dockland Music on Aug 28, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Lester 'N' Mac
Country - Released by RCA - Legacy on Jun 1, 1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs that Made the Jukebox Play
Country - Released by CMH Records on Aug 11, 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Name in the Sand
Country - Released by Good Time Records on Apr 29, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Over the Hills to the Poorhouse
Country - Released by RCA - Legacy on Jun 1, 1973
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
On the South Bound
Country - Released by RCA - Legacy on Jun 1, 1972
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grassroots to Bluegrass
Country - Released by CMH Records on May 29, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Voice With a Heart
Country - Released by MME on Sep 21, 1984
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo